As part of the USDI Fish and Wildlife Service’s refuge system, Barren Island is an asset to the Chesapeake Bay and its inhabitants. It helps protect submerged vegetation, which in turn provides habitat for ﬁsh and shellﬁsh. Isolated from the mainland, it offers prime wintering, breeding, and nesting habitat for migratory waterfowl and birds, including brown pelicans. It also harbors threatened and endangered species including bald eagles, least terns, and black skimmers.

The island was severely eroded from a combination of high wave energy, rising sea levels, land submersion, ship wakes, and the natural ebb and ﬂ ow of barrier islands. In fact, it was eroding at the rate of 15 feet per year. Without the island, it’s likely that waves would eventually destroy the underwater vegetation and erode the shoreline of Southern Dorchester County, especially during storms.

The CORPS, NOAA, and FWS scientists were weighing restoration/ protection options when they realized that coupling habitat restoration with the ongoing need for places to dispose of clean, locally dredged material could facilitate restoration while resolving the challenge of disposal.

The NOAA Community-based Restoration Program, NFWF, and the Fish America Foundation have been working on Barren Island restoration since 1997. About 1,300 feet of shoreline and 20 acres have been added to the island, reducing shoreline erosion and creating new low marsh wetlands. The project has also ﬁeld tested several types of geotextile tubes for shoreline armoring. Partners are considering additional expansion to provide greater habitat enhancement and protection.

With assistance from the National Aquarium in Baltimore, Army Corps of Engineers, FWS, and other partners and community organizations, more than 1,000 volunteers have restored and replanted 22 acres of coastal wetland. More than 450 students raised and planted 20,000 tidal wetland plants at the restoration site. In October 2004, the Aquarium, NFWF, NOAA, and 22 partners received a Coastal America Special Recognition Award for the Schoolyard Spartina project.

Innovation/Highlight

Re-use of dredged material avoided the need for costly transport and land placement while enhancing Barren Island's conservation value.